Sunday, October 24, 2010

And the Problem Is...?

Yo! I'm talking to you

  "The social transformations we have seen over recent decades have complex causes, the roots of which are distant in time and have profoundly modified our perception of the world. ... If, on the one hand, humanity has seen undeniable benefits from these transformations and the Church received further stimuli to give reasons for the hope she carries, on the other, we have seen a worrying loss of the sense of the sacred, even going so far as to call into discussion apparently unquestionable foundations, such as faith in the God of creation and providence; the revelation of Jesus Christ our only Saviour, the shared understating of man's fundamental experiences like birth, death and family life, and the reference to natural moral law".
From the apostolic letter Ubicumque et Sempter (Everywhere and Always) issued Moto pro prio (because I can) to announce the founding of a new Vatican Agency tasked with evangelizing the backsliders. Issued originally only  in Latin and Italian. I suppose the Popester wanted to see how it played with the home team and Classics scholars before disseminating it in a language someone actually speaks. Sure there's the grudging admission that 400 years of post Enlightenment scientific and social progress in the Western European democracies has increased the standard of living beyond what 2000 years of Christian statehood could even dream of but don't these poor souls know that while their bellies are full, their souls are wandering thirstily in a spiritual desert. And even if these Europeans know, they don't appear to care. Funny how the least religious countries are the ones that you would most like to live in. Excepting the good ole USA, I guess. We appear to be a special case where evidence based knowledge and superstitious dumbassery uneasily coexist, often in the same person.

So good luck, Papa Bene. You're gonna need it. One question: If there is such a thing as Natural Moral Law why do we need religion at all?

2 comments:

  1. ...we have seen a worrying loss of the sense of the sacred...

    Translation: GAAK! The rubes is looking behind the curtain!

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